


The House with Blue Shutters

by the_squidkid



Category: Original Work
Genre: 1991, A little girl goes missing, Kidnapping?, a dog - Freeform, an old lady investigates, in a small village, it happens in England, murder?, named Greenwood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 08:11:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18028025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_squidkid/pseuds/the_squidkid
Summary: Ten years ago Texas Jefferson disappeared. Now, her house is a crime scene. Mrs Potts, who was her teacher at the time, investigates Texas’s disappearance and the mystery around the house with blue shutters.





	1. And she never came back

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story and it isn’t beta-read so if you find anything wrong please let me know. Also, English isn’t my first language.

Greenwood was a small village. It was very charming and everybody knew each other. This village had all the characteristics of a hamlet: there was a church, St Williams, a small market on Mondays and even Mrs Potts, an old lady who knew everything that happened in Greenwood. 

Evangeline Potts was a 71 year old retired teacher, who lived in a lovely house with a garden, just next to the market. She had a dog, Lucky, a brown French bulldog. You could always find Mrs Potts and her dog at the terrasse of the café, and on Mondays she would always be at the market, chatting to everybody who walked by. Lucky would often wander off between the stalls, looking for food, food that every seller would give him. Mrs Potts would always say “Lucky! Come back here! We have food at home.” and when he finally came, she would congratulate him: “That's a good boy.”

Greenwood was a perfectly normal village, but, as Mrs Potts would say in her high pitched voice, chatting to her neighbours, “There’s this house with blue shutters.” Everyone who lived in Greenwood for more than two months knew about this house with blue shutters on the edge of the village, in the dark forest. This house was feared by the inhabitants of Greenwood. Nobody knew who lived here. Those who were brave enough to go near the house could see the name Jefferson written on the letter box. And actually, there had been a girl in Greenwood School named Texas Jefferson. She was 10 and never said a word, even to teachers. She was a cute little girl with light brown hair, blue eyes and freckles. Her hair was always up in two ponytails on both sides of her head. It was rumoured she lived in the house with blue shutters, but that rumor went unanswered, and no adults were ever seen with her. The teachers, Mrs Potts was one of them at the time, didn't know anything about her. She was a mystery. The only thing she ever said, on the first day she arrived in Greenwood School was “My name is Texas Jefferson.” and on parents day she was all by herself. 

But except that, all had been perfectly normal in Greenwood. Until the 4th of July 1981 when Texas never showed up for school. And the rumour, with Mrs Potts’ help, started spreading. It was on the Greenwood Times. Texas Jefferson had disappeared.


	2. A man came looking for her

On the day this story starts, it is Tuesday, the 4th of July 1991. Mrs Potts is in front of her house talking to Mr Stevens, the old chemist. It is 11am. They are talking about Texas’ disappearance. It's the subject off all discussions in Greenwood, and this for ten years, since Mrs Potts last saw Texas Jefferson. 

The two Greenwood inhabitants are so focused on their conversation that they don't see a tall man wearing a long black coat and a tall black hat walking towards them. When she sees him, Mrs Potts interrupts herself in the middle of this “new and exciting theory you absolutely need to hear about" to look at the stranger. Mrs Potts, being small, is half his size so she has to look up when he starts talking. 

“Where can I find the Jefferson's house?” he asks in his deep low voice. 

“Why are you looking for the house with blue shutters?” Mrs Potts replies, glaring at him with suspicion. 

“None of your business," he answers angrily. “Now, will you tell me where I can find this house or not?” he walks forward, threatening Mrs Potts. 

“He is terrifying," think both Mrs Potts and Mr Stevens at the same time. Mrs Potts swallows her saliva before answering “It's at the end of the village, in the forest, that way," she squeaks, pointing the right direction. Her neck is a bit painful, as she tries to keep eye contact.   
Without saying a word - especially thank you, “Rude,” Mrs Potts thinks - the man leaves, as fast as he came. 

Mrs Potts and Mr Stevens look at each other. Mr Stevens had a terrified look on his face. Without further ado, Mrs Potts calls Lucky, says goodbye to Mr Stevens and hurries. 

“Well Lucky, it seems like we've got something to investigate," she says to her dog, with a mysterious smile on her face. Lucky nods “Just like old times," he thinks, but instead just lets out a “Woof" to show his agreement. Mrs Potts smiles. “This is gonna be interesting,” she whispers to herself, as she opens the front door


	3. At 11pm

There's a knock on the door. A young woman wearing black Doc Martens, blue jeans with holes on the knees and a short-sleeved red t-shirt walks down the long wooden stairs. She arrives in a large entrance with a dark red mat on the floor and an old clock on the wall. It is 11pm. Opposite her is a massive pine-wood door. She opens it. A man is standing in front of her. He is wearing shiny black shoes, black trousers, a long black coat and a tall black hat. It is the same man Mrs Potts and M Stevens saw earlier that day. His coat is open. Underneath, he has a white shirt with bloody red stains on it. When he sees the girl, a large grin appears on his face, revealing two long canines. He jumps on the girl, his teeth right next to her neck. A strident scream rips through the night. 

Mrs. Potts hurries to her kitchen as the boiler whistles. She takes it off the stove and pours herself a cup of tea, before looking at the clock on the wall. It is 11pm. She grabs her cup, walks to her living room, sits on a club chair, puts the tea on a table on her left then opens a book on her laps. Her finger goes through the pages as if she was looking for something, or someone : indeed, the book is a photo album. She stops on a page where are posing the students of the school year 1981. She quickly goes through all the face but one of them catches her attention. It’s a class picture of the year 6. On the first row, sitting with both hands on the knees, is a little girl wearing a white shirt with a green logo next to the heart and a grey skirt, the school uniform, with two blonde ponytails and a large grin across her face. 

“Texas Jefferson” whispers Mrs Potts to herself before drinking a sip on her tea. She then starts to yawn : “Well, I guess it’s time for bed, isn’t it?” she asks her dog. Looking down to the corner of the room, she sees that Lucky is fast asleep. She smiles softly before heading to her bathroom to get ready for bed. 

She thinks one more time about Texas before closing her eyes and falling asleep. 

Little did she know that at the first hour in the mourning, two youngsters who’s ideal date could be debatable would call 999, saying that there was blood. Lots of blood. The police would arrive 10 minutes after the call at the house with blue shutters. They send samples of the blood to forensics who would then state that the blood was Texas Jefferson’s. The police then searched in the forest and came to one conclusion : Texas Jefferson was nowhere to be find. On of the policeman who stayed at the house looked up to the old clock on the wall and realized it had stopped working. At 11pm.


	4. Here she was

She woke up suddenly after a terrible nightmare. She was all sweaty and her pyjamas stuck to her skin. The nightmare was about her, as a little girl, falling for time that felt like forever, only to wake up when she hit the ground. She was quite used to having this bad dream, she was having it since she was 10, since the accident. 

The room where she was only had a bed, a sink and mirror and a chair with some clothes on it. She got out of bed and slowly went to the sink at the other end of the small room. She opened the tap and let some water run before she put a bit of water on her face. The contact between the warmth of her skin and the coldness of the water made her shiver. She then looked up to the mirror. She was beautiful young lady, with shapes where she needed them so that others would look at her, long golden-blond hair going down in waves below her shoulders. Her hair stuck to her skin because of the water and her sweat. Her eyes were deep light blue and her skin quite pale. 

She weakly smiled to herself before going to the chair next to the bed. She took her clothes that were lying on it and got dressed into blue jeans with holes on the knees and a white tank top. She brushed her hair in a high ponytail, put some black sock on, took the leather jacket that was on the back of the chair and her Docs that were near the door and left the room. 

Once she was out of the room, but still inside a building, still with her docs in one hand, her jacket around her waist, she closed the door and left silencely. A name was written on the door : T. JEFFERSON.


	5. Walls have ears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mrs Potts was wandering around in the grocery store looking at a piece of paper where she had written her shopping list when she bumped into Mr Stevens.

Mrs Potts was wandering around in the grocery store looking at a piece of paper where she had written her shopping list when she bumped into Mr Stevens. 

“Evangeline! I’ve wanted to talk to you about something important” he announced while giving her a hug. 

“It is good to see you Roger, do you mind if we talk while I buy some stuff?” She pointed to her shopping list with the hand that was holding Lucky’s leash. 

Mr Stevens looked around with a scared look on his face. “I - I am afraid this won’t be possible.” He looked around them again before continuing, this time with a lower voice “It seems wall have ears.” 

“Do you prefer we talk at you place then?” asked Mrs potts with concern in her voice. 

“No!” shouted Mr Stevens. Realising he was talking so loud he started to whisper: “I think I am being spied on, and - well it might be a coincidence - I saw a girl with blond hair.” 

“I am sorry if I don’t follow Roger, but there are a lot of blonde girls out there” she replied, trying her best to not seem to sarcastic. She was starting to think that her dear friend war going crazy and paranoid. 

“Yes yes a lot of blonde girls indeed”, he waved his hand to show that that was not the point. The point was “The girl I saw was”, he lowered his voice, if that was even possible,”Texas Jefferson.” 

That name ran through Mrs Potts like electricity. She felt something cold going through her spine and in the back of her neck. That’s when she started to believe what Mr Stevens was saying, what she always believed in the depths of her mind. Texas Jefferson was alive. Remembering the man she saw the other day, with Mr Stevens, she couldn’t help but worry about Texas. “Are you sure it was her?” she asked, “I mean, it has been ten years, who knows what she looks like now.” She tried to hide the worries in her voice. 

“We should talk at you place.” Mr Stevens was acting like he was in a rush, which made Mrs Potts take her decision even faster. 

“I’ll finish my shopping later, we should get mooving.”

Mrs Potts, Mr Stevens and Lucky headed as fast as they could to Mrs Potts’ house. None of them saw the tall man in black following them. They also didn’t seem to notice him climbing the fence and going inside Mrs Potts’ house using the back door. 

And all four of them didn’t notice the young blonde girl wearing jeans with holes on the knees, a white tank top, a leather jacket and Doc Martin’s on the roof of Mrs Potts’ house, using one of the roof windows to go inside the house. 

Lucky barked a few times but Mrs Potts and Mr Stevens were so concentrated in their discussion about Texas Jefferson and the man in black that they didn’t pay attention.


End file.
